Attorney General James Wins Court Order Stopping Federal Government from Defunding Planned Parenthood

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today won a court order preventing the federal government from enforcing a provision in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that would strip Planned Parenthood of its Medicaid funds, jeopardizing health care for millions of low-income patients across the country. In July, Attorney General James joined a coalition of 21 other attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania in suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to block the provision that prohibits Medicaid funds from going to non-profit health care clinics that receive a certain amount of Medicaid funding and provide abortions – criteria that almost exclusively apply to Planned Parenthood clinics. The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts today issued a ruling granting the coalition’s motion for a preliminary injunction, preventing the federal government from enforcing the provision and ordering HHS to continue paying Medicaid funds to all states and clinics in the coalition.  

“This administration’s attempt to target and defund Planned Parenthood is as dangerous as it is illegal,” said Attorney General James. “Planned Parenthood provides invaluable health care services for millions of people throughout the country. I will not allow this administration to threaten New Yorkers’ health care and reproductive freedom with its political games.” 

In New York, Planned Parenthood is a core part of the state’s Medicaid provider network. In 2023 alone, 89,000 New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid received care at Planned Parenthood clinics. As Attorney General James and the coalition argued in their lawsuit, the provision targeting Planned Parenthood would severely disrupt critical health care services, including cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and family planning services. If the provision is enforced, states would have to choose between blocking Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds entirely – forcing clinics to close and leaving patients without care – or paying for those services with state funds, forfeiting millions of dollars in federal funds.

The preliminary injunction issued by the court today blocks the federal government from enforcing the provision targeting Planned Parenthood against all of the coalition’s states. The court also ordered HHS to continue to provide Medicaid funds to states and reimburse claims from health care providers like Planned Parenthood that are targeted by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” provision. 

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, along with the state of Pennsylvania.